Rat's Poison
by xxbrokenbass
Summary: HIATUS [TNA Fic]James Mitchell is holding Abyss tightly in his clutches... but why? Why is Abyss letting Mitchell get away with it? What does Mitchell know? Meet the before&after of Abyss feats also CC,Sting&More Based on current TNA storyline
1. The End is the Beginning

**Rat's Poison**

**Disclaimer**: I don't claim to own any of the featured people in TNA or Flyleaf lyrics for that matter…seriously do you think I'd be here if I did own 'em?

**Notes:** All the odd chapters are set in the present and all of the even chapters are in the past so to speak...this might sound a bit confusing but here's hoping it gets a bit better with more chapters! Hope you guys like this at any rate lemme know what you think k? ) Cheers me dears! xxx p.s by the way... some wrestlers will be known by their real names!

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**Chapter One: The End is the Beginning**

The woman doubled over blood gushing from her mouth as the man stepped into view, evil flashing in his cold emotionless eyes

"See I told you, you're not gonna mess around anymore are you? ARE YOU?"

The sobbing woman crumpled to the floor pleading for her life as the man laughed in her face and with one final blow… the woman was left motionless in the dark alleyway… as James Mitchell's muscled henchman carried her to the car.

James Mitchell stepped into the yellow streetlight covered in blood…smirking he walked to the car, opened the door and within a few seconds his henchman followed.

The car screeched down the road as it sped away…

"…So that's when I followed them…they ended up down the Causeway Avenue… Course there's a big mineshaft down there… and they just…threw her away like a piece of trash…"

"What happened when they saw you?"

"They framed me for it… spent 9 years in prison for something I didn't do…I got let out because eventually the cops found there wasn't sufficient evidence to keep me in prison for life…"

"What happened when you were let out?"

"I went back to what I loved doing…indy wrestling…hell it didn't pay much but it was honest enough work… and at the very least I kinda figured the travelling would help me avoid getting back into that mess again…and well when Jeff offered me more money and opportunity at TNA… well the prospect of a better life beat what little else I had… "

"I see well…uh...Aby-"

"It's Chris by the way…and yeah I spose it does sorta end and begin there really…"

"I see…Well then Chris I'm sorry but I'm going to have to cut this here…same time next Tuesday maybe we can talk more about what happened?"

"Sure Doc it's a date…what happened to Thursday though?"

"Oh… yeah I'm a bit busy then"

"Oh…Okay no worries then"

And with that Chris walked out of the phyciatrist's room with a smile on his face the problems from shoulders being finally lifted…there was more to this talking...and talking about his problems then he'd realised... It was quite therapeutic... and more importantly it got things into perspective... Steve said afterall that'll help more then anything... and well...Steve hadn't let him down yet!

_Fully alive  
More than most  
Ready to smile and love life_

_Fully alive and he knows  
How to believe in futures_


	2. Heads you Win…Tails?

**Notes:** Disclaimer still applies… I don't own diddly squat nor am I claiming to… this chapter is now set in the "past" if you remember as well! xxx

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**Chapter Two: Heads you Win…Tails?**

"If I told you once, I've told you a thousand times! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!"

Abyss grunted in reply and continued to stride down the hallway with James Mitchell running to keep up with him

"Listen Chris, I _know_ you _he_ doesn't, I _know you_"

Abyss turned around suddenly, gave Mitchell a cold sideways glare and continued striding down the hallway… Mitchell skidded in his tracks

"Where are you even going anyway?"

**Flashback**

"It's obvious I've got something that belongs to you –The Worlds Title-, but you've got something that belongs to me y'know you've got potential to be a great world champion but you've gotta start making some different choices and go down a different road which means you've gotta stop worrying about your past, stop thinking about your past and all the secrets you've got in your past because you can't change the past. BUT the good news is, the GOOD NEWS is Abyss you can change-we can change-your future We can change your future…what I'm saying Abyss is this I'll give you what belongs to you, if you give what belongs to me and that's a world title shot at Final Resolution. We can settle it right now with a handshake"

**End Flashback**

"Where's Abyss? Where the hell is he?" a hysterical James Mitchell was looking everywhere for the monster… except he just couldn't find him! He was also noticeably without the NWA World Heavyweight championship...something that struck as a bit odd given that it was only really Mitchell that carried and kept hold of the title in the first place

"Well would you look at that Kid… Mitchell is loosing control of that Monster of his" the older stage man said to the younger man to his left…

"Heartless bastard… he's gonna get what's coming to him y'know! Mark my words"

**Flashback**

"Stinger, Stinger! You learned your lesson last week and Abyss, Abyss we got a lil something for you, you know this man right here don't you Abyss, You know this man huh? Because he sure as hell knows you! I know you're back there and I know you can hear me! So why don't you come on out here? Come on out and we'll have a lil chat so that you and Tomko can get…reacquainted."

**End Flashback**

Meanwhile just behind the main entrance tunnel there was a large, but relatively discreet space behind it. The space was always deserted, with the hustle and bustle of this business and he always came here to think… with his belt in front of him shining in his eyes… he just sat and stared at it.

**Flashback**

"Abyss I've got something I wanna say to you, I wanna talk to YOU MAN TO MAN and FACE TO FACE TONIGHT! But Abyss! Come alone!"

"Sit down, Sit down…alright Abyss have it your way…Abyss everyman has his own will what is yours? You know for the last 4 years that I've been coming in and out of TNA I've watched you Abyss, I've watched you climb the ladder, I've watched you strait and scrap and crawl and fall through tacks and fall through barbed wire and climb the ladder of success here at TNA until you ended up the World Champion. I gotta hand it to ya and I don't know what mystery lies behind you, I don't know anything about your past Abyss but none of that matters right now…what matters is…you are a bona fide champion, you're a great athlete… but at Genesis you let Jim Mitchell lead you around like a little puppy dog…What I wanna know is why? Why do you just let him lead you around like you're a puppet or something? Is it because you're looking for something? Or is it because you're looking for someone? Someone to lead you out of the torment your in, the pain that your in 24/7? Or is because you wanna be your own champion now? Or is because you wanna be your own man? Is that what it is Abyss? ... Or should I say Chris?"

"You need to let him worry about him and you worry about you, you need to make your own choices"

**End Flashback**

With a roar Abyss hit out at the wall… till it hurt to do it anymore…he put his numb, black and blue hands to his face and buried his face in them...

_What is going on? What should he do?_

_This wasn't his fault_

_Hang on it was… wasn't it?_

****

_**As I walked up the stairs in total darkness, I revealed in my seconds of blindness.**_


	3. Bare Bones

**Note: **HAPPY NEW YEAR! D Have a good 'un at any rate!** Remember **this is the "present", Italics are Chris's (Abyss's) thoughts by the way…Disclaimer yet again still applies… I actually don't know Tomko's real name by the way lol…so I kinda used by imagination there lol… anyways keep em rocking em n rolling! Xxx

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Chapter Three- Bare Bones

"So tell me more about this Steve, Chris"

"Well…there's nothing to tell really… I'd spent 9 years in prison, was manipulated by Mitchell into doing his bidding afterwards and well… he kinda saved me from it in a round about way"

"Saved you?"

"Yeah…in a round about way… he said I could make my own choices and that…"

"I see… you look a bit uncomfortable talking about this?"

"I…I'm not…just a bit awkward…"

"Why?"

"Well it got a bit um… strange before I realised he was right that all"

"I see…do you want to carry on talking about him?"

"No. Not really"

_I can't tell her about him… after all she doesn't need to know anyway… no-one does…besides I just told her the basic gitz anyway… and I'm not lying…I'm just not gonna tell her the whole truth… yeah… that's it… its not gonna be the whole truth… I'll just tell her what she needs to know… _

"Okay. Tell me about… Tomko? Instead"

"He…"

"He what? Chris?"

_Shit. From one awkward subject to another…WHY DID I AGREE TO THIS?! –Sigh- here goes nothing I guess_

"He… he was a friend when I was in prison…my only friend in fact…when I was allowed out in the yard or in the hall… he was the only one that would come up and talk to me…"

"…I see…what would you talk about?"

"Anything and everything really… though it was mainly about what we missed from the outside…"

"…I see…what did you miss from the outside?"

"TV…Music… My girlfriend… Good food and exercise…My job…my general lifestyle really"

"…I see… you missed the pretty mundane existence you had then?"

"Yes."

_My old life…How much better it was…_

"I noticed you haven't said anything about missing your family?"

_Oh God… she was gonna bring it up sooner or later huh?_

Closing his eyes, Abyss took a long shaky breath

"I don't want to talk about them"

"Oh?"

His eyes snapped open

"Yes oh…I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!"

"Its okay Chris I'm just here to help…if you don't talk about it… just say!"

"Fine"

_I now it's not her fault…she's trying to help… but I don't… I don't want to talk about **them**_

"So tell me more about Tomko then"

_Back to him…Hm…She's good… I'll do what I did before… give the basics and nothing more…_

"He was in prison for aiding an armed robbery…only he didn't really aid the robbery, it was mistake…and it was…"

"Something you could sympathise with?"

"Well…yeah I could"

"I see…became close did you?"

"Yes."

"How close?"

"Close enough"

"What is the significance of the tattoos then? I notice from pictures of Tomko that you two have similar tattoos…"

"They're similar because we went to the same prison…only…"

"…only my tattoos were botched…his weren't"

"Why was that?"

_That's quite easy to explain_

He gave a small smile.

"They feared me. Not him"

"Why?"

_This is getting annoy_ing…

"I was in there for murder… I was quite literally bouncing off the walls and was seen as unstable…he simply wasn't…is that fair enough?...Paul was respected…that's his proper name by the way…he was called Tomko cause the guys used to make a joke about the fact he looked like some Indian Chief…anyway… the guy that did my tat to mark my time there was trembling the whole time he did it… that's how come it was botched…"

The physiatrist paused for a moment… he was clearly becoming agitated. Only one thing to do…

"Right I think we can call it a day there…see you same time Thursday?"

"Right okay"

_Thank fuck for that_

"Good Afternoon Chris"

"Afternoon"

And with that Abyss sharply got up and left the room… striding past the receptionist and ignoring other people staring at the tall, muscular guy walking angrily past them.

_Fucking annoying, nosy physiatrists… who the fuck do they think they are? Needing to every detail of my fucking life…nosy bastards…_

Sighing audibly, the cool air hit Abyss straight in the face as soon as he got out off the door.

_Today hasn't that suc_cessful…

Buried within his thoughts… he didn't notice his mobile flashing at first…

_Oh for God's sake…_

"Yeah what do you want?"

"Oh sorry is this a bad time Chris?"

_No…No it's never a bad time when he calls…Never. Why did he even have to ask?_


	4. Meltdown

**Chapter Four- Meltdown**

**Notes: **I'm gonna try and not ruin too much of this week's Impact! But just in case I do…then be forewarned!

**This chapter may contain spoilers!**

"I have personally invited TNA cameras here to get something on the record. For once and for all Abyss we going to get this on record. I brought you home…you recognise this Abyss? Does this look like home to you? Get over here. Sit down. Sit down SIT DOWN AND LISTEN TO ME YOU IDIOT!"

_NO_

_NO_

_No._

_This aint happening tell me its not happening…It's not. It's not… It's NOT!_

_I won't listen. I've gotta listen. He knows me. He knows me well. I won't listen. I must listen. For the good? For the better…yes the better…I trust him…he's trustworthy…that's it… yes…_

"A little story of blood, horror, betrayal, unspeakable, unmentionable sins, unforgivable sins"

_Blood…_

_Yes… I deserve this I deserve this…I won't listen… I deserve it… I won't listen…I deserve_

_What?_

"Sting's right about one thing you've got a choice to make"

_Choice_

_I will listen._

_I won't._

_He'll listen._

_They'll listen_

_He'll listen._

_Yes he will._

"I've kept your secret for 18 months Abyss"

SHUT UP!


	5. Lets Talk About This

**Chapter 5- Lets talk about it**

"Oh gee no…no it's not a bad time!"

_Just the worst possible time instead… Why is he calling?_

"Well listen up Abyss I'm not ringing you to play nice… you put me here and you WILL…you WILL pay for this!"

"Really? Aint payback a bitch? Asshole"

"It will be Abyss. It will be"

"Tell it to the jury. And one thing."

"Why I'm all ears"

"It's Chris now. Just Chris"

And with that Abyss hung up the phone and continued walking down the road.

_What a prick…why the hell is Mitchell's new right hand man calling me? And better yet why insist on calling me Abyss?_

_That's Mitchell's name for me._

_It's not my name._

_Since that betrayal of Mitchell… all they can do is hassle me…with Abyss this…and Abyss that… why me? Who knows… well I know… but see Steve helped…he really did… he stuck by…despite what I did...he forgave me… why did he do that?_

_Why? Well I know what he says… but… does he mean it? Is everything really gonna be okay? Let alone better?_

_Hmm_

Abyss's phone flashed again…this time he looked at it…as he turned into his road.

_I'll ask him now._

_We'll talk about it…and then we'll about what's gonna happen next_

"Hey Steve how's retirement suiting ya these days?"


	6. Turnaround

**Chapter 6- Turnaround**

"I'll let your dirty secret out to the whole world… you've kept it for 16 years… I'm your friend Abyss… I'm trying to help you"

_He's trying to help me… He's trying to help me…_

_It's my fault… he's trying to better me… help me solve my problems… I can't let him… can't let him do this… _

_But I have no choice… he can't do this… but he can… it's my fault… this is my fault…that was my fault…_

_My fault_

_I can't let people see my faults… I have to be strong… Sting needs to pay. He's trying to make a fool out of me… James is right. He's my friend._

_Why did I even listen in the first place?_

_I want to go home… _

_Sting'll pay. Try and make a fool out of Abyss? That doesn't work. You selfish hypocrite… YOU'LL PAY! James was right all along_

"Shock treatment to Sting… Abyss is coming home to James Mitchell."

_Home…_

_I've done the right thing…_

_And you'll never know… they'll never know… I am **not an idiot.** I am **not a puppet. **This is **my belt. **This is **my friend. **This is **my present and my future.**_

_You'll be sorry you ever put such an idea in my head that there is more…_

_There isn't…is there? You're lying…lying…LYING_

_James is right…he's always right…_

_I'm going home..._

_Don't try and save me… you'll loose._

Sting rolled over onto his side… his back proving too painful to lie on…he just managed to catch the look in Mitchell's triumphant eyes…

_So this is how it's gonna be_


	7. Jokes and Recalling

**Chap7-Jokes and Recalling **

It had always been a running joke between Chris and Steve since he retired that Chris's problems were the cause of the early retirement and Steve's premature greys. They both knew better of course…but it still amused them still.

"Well you know _thanks to you_…I've managed to improve my game of golf significantly"

"Good to hear it… well what can I do ya for at any rate?"

In actual fact Steve had a long sustaining knee injury…to let people know of this would be bad for business… Steve prided himself on being a professional…this "retirement" was so that he could recover… whether he wanted to come back…he honestly wasn't sure… he had so much already… he could afford downtime for the rest of his life… be a recluse…spend time with his family…see his baby daughter grow up more…leave it for good… but he'd already had a relaxed time table… so retiring certainly wasn't necessarily a pressing thing anyway…

Still. Face it. He needed time to recover after what happened…

"I called for a chat really… see how things are?"

"Things are… pretty okay?"

"Pretty okay?"

"Okay Okay… they're pretty crappy actually…"

"Why?"

"A number of things really"

"Like what?"

"I hate my physiatrist… and all her questions… she should but out… Mitchell's goons keep calling me…and…well then its two things really"

"Mate that's pretty pathetic…considering"

"Considering what?"

Chris knew deep though that what Steve said was probably true… but he couldn't admit he was wrong…

"Considering it could be worse"

"Fair point"

_Just agree…and don't look like you've cocked up! _

"So any plans on letting this physiatrist do her job and help ya?"

"Nope"

"Mate… you know what she's keeping you out of… in the end it'll be worth it"

"The nosy b-"

"Don't swear please"

"Sorry… it feels like she's trying to pry in my life…my innermost feeling and thoughts… and it's like…leave me alone"

"I can imagine you would've covered that sentence in a load of other angry words huh?"

"Duh"

"Just try not to take it personally… she's only trying to help you see a solution"

Steve was right…course he was… but damn phyciatrist's are annoying… "Tell me about this… tell me about that" two words…SHUT UP!

Still…

"A solution can only be sought… its not as straight forward and as easy as people think…you've gotta want help…to well get it…"

"Course I want help"

"Then let her do her job. And as for the cronies and Mitchell… well they can be dealt with can't they?"

"Course they can be" Chris laughed

"Well then don't worry about them then poppet!"

Chris laughed more… Steve's voice was so patronising and sarcastic at that point… it was quite funny… in fact he felt a bit stupid for bringing this whole thing up… but a part of him was glad…Steve was a laugh

"They can meet my lil friend and my lil friend can teach them the meaning of shadda up ya you face and respect me fool"

Chris laughed more… not too sure his mind had read into that, then what was really needed.

"Well I'm sure your busy amigo… so I better say adios and go"

"I'm not busy… but yes… I'd hate to fit the bill as well… if this call went on for any longer"

"We defiantly need to meet up some time! If ya need me gimme a shout! Till Then we'll talk later"

With that Chris's phone clicked off…and he stood there monetarily with his phone buzzing in his ear…

_Trust Steve to bring the happier side of things to light _but they cheered him up nonetheless…and with that Chris pushed open the door and bustled into his house… throwing himself into his leather sofa…

_Funny old day it's been _

And with that final thought… Chris fell asleep.


	8. Desperate Times Part 1

**Chap8- Desperate Times Part 1**

"C'mon Abyss what's your secret huh?"

_No… NO…NOO…he can't know he…he won't know…not now no no not now… not ever…no one will find out_

"Well if your not gonna tell me then I guess I'm gonna have to find out for myself…if you really went to prison…then it'll be on public record…"

_Shit _

Abyss sat in the corner of the ring stunned…

_Mitchell's gonna kill me if everyone finds out… yes he'll kill me… then he'll go after Mira… it can't…it cant happen…it WONT HAPPEN… _

_xxx_

"Turns out Abyss shot his own father in the back with 3 bullets and spent 6 years in prison for it but what I wanna know is why?"

Sting knew it wasn't true… it couldn't be… six years in prison for murder? And then he was allowed to do professional wrestling… something was amiss… it had to be…but he figured that playing along with this story wouldn't matter much… it seemed that however he tried to help Abyss that Abyss'll get angry and attack him… so it seemed that either way he'd loose… so would not letting on the fact that he knew what he was told was wrong…and telling everybody else this "secret" really matter?

No. No it wouldn't… _I'll find out the truth though _

James Mitchell was watching Sting on the microphone…so he actually believed that? Idiot.

"Go then Abyss…go get him"

"AGHH"

Abyss starting trashing the lockeroom…then rushed out to the ring beating up on Sting…here there and everywhere…

James Mitchell smirked… _this is too easy…go get them my pet!_


End file.
